Moving over to World Coins
By Coins and coin collecting | Wednesday, 17 May 2006
Coin collecting is a huge phenomenon that is still growing on a regular basis. More and more collectors from around the world are becoming numismatists in their own rights bit starting and enhancing their own very valuable collections. Investors who have previously traded solely in stocks and shares are moving over to coin portfolios because of the stability within the silver and gold market when compared to the indexes. Obviously this increase in popularity has its advantages for the trader and, indeed, the established investor because the more sought after coins are being snapped up very quickly and prices are subsequently rocketing to previously unseen levels. However, the investors and traders gain is the collector's loss.
Why collectors collect
Collectors do not collect coins with the ultimate goal of making a profit. Although if many were to be brutally honest about their collections and the thoughts they have when purchasing new coins it is still a thought that runs through their mind. Collectors collect coins for the numismatic value and simply for the love of collecting coins. Because high-grade coins are being bought for much greater prices the collector is being forced to buy lower grade coins themselves or pay much higher prices than they would like. American coins as well as English coins have been the main point of focus for many collectors and as American coins are becoming more difficult to get hold of the attention of the collector, the investor and therefore the trader is being taken more and more by world coins.
The challenges of collecting world coins
Collecting world coins is not only a new outlet for collectors struggling to find coins from their own shores but it has new challenges on offer. There are some remarkably small nations (there are a great many more countries than you probably imagine that are less than 200 square miles within their border) in the world that press their own coins and this can offer a very specialized collection. Specializing is a very important thing to consider when beginning a collection because if you don't specialize in any one area then your collection will have no focus and you will be more of a jack-of-all-trades and master of nothing.
World coins from the smaller nations
While these small nations may often use foreign coins for primary trading and purchasing they still regularly print and press their own money that are not circulated but still legal tender. As you can imagine, these can be very minimal in number but still quite incredible in design. As far as collections go you cannot go far wrong by picking one or two of these nations to concentrate your collection on.
Examples of these smaller nations
Many collectors find world coins from these small nations very collectible and a source of fascination. Some of the nations you will have heard of, like Vatican city, Monaco and the Maldives while others you may not have. Tuvalu was under British rule until 1978 although there coins still feature the bust of Queen Elizabeth II on their obverse. Tuvalu only has 11,000 inhabitants making it the same size as a small to moderate sized town.
A consideration when starting your collection of world coins
Even if you choose to go for a larger nation you still have a big choice you need to make. For instance if you decide to collect British coins should you collect coins from the Caicos Islands. They are still overseen by the British government and use British coins on a daily basis, creating their own only really for collectors and in very small numbers.
This article is part of the Coins and coin collecting articles.
More articles
- Canadian coins
- Canadian banknotes
- Canadian tokens and medals
- International
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